The R&D in the automobile market always requires a more efficient use of resources with regard to consumption and polluting emissions, whereby these requirements apply to sub-assemblies of a vehicle, such as automatic transmissions. For that reason, modern automatic transmissions are realizing more and more gears; due to the numerous gears, the combustion engine can be operated in an advantageous manner more often at the optimal operating point, which hereby requires the respective optimizing of the shift strategy for the selection of gears in the transmission. With regard to the consumption, it is hereby important to provide the most efficient gear for each respective driving situation.
Based on the DE 10 2006 030 528 A1, the applicant is aware of a method for determination of anticipated gear ratio changes in electronically controlled motor vehicles. In that known method, environmental data, driver/vehicle data, and a first gear proposal are fed into a correction module through which the first proposal for a gear is matched, whereby the correction module has at least a drive situation module through which a current or an upcoming drive situation can be recognized. In addition, the correction module comprises of a determination module to which information of the acknowledged drive situation can be passed, and by which a second proposal for a gear ratio can be determined.
The known method also provides, in its framework, that in the determination module, depending of at least one recognized upcoming drive situation and driver/vehicle data, a first step checks whether at least one shift situation is present to intervene whereby, when at least one shift situation is present, a second step checks whether the conditions for execution of the respective intervention, for one of the recognized shift situations, is met.
If a shift situation has occurred and the conditions for the execution of an intervention are met, in a third step, the first gear proposal is matched and a second matched gear proposal is created which is passed to the transmission.
It is also provided, in the known method, that a multiple downshift through several gear steps can occur whereby an optional sportiness level can be determined, relevant for the allowed transmission ratio step and described gear number function, and through computation of vehicle data and/or through predetermination of the transmission control and/or through modifications of the vehicle adjustments for the driver. The identification of maximal possible curve speeds is not provided.
The sportiness level can hereby be determined in accordance with EP 897496 B1 of the applicant, for instance. Within the framework of this disclosed method for determination of a curve drive with an automatic transmission of a vehicle, by means of an electronic transmission control device with a computation unit, a microcontroller, a storage device, and a control unit to trigger a hydraulic transmission control device, based on a measuring device at the wheels of the vehicle which measures the wheel rotational speed, a first processing function determines, in a computation unit, a transversal acceleration of the vehicle whereby in an additional processing function, of a driver-type nominal value, is determined based on the vehicle transversal acceleration and a vehicle speed.
Also, in an additional step, a shift pattern diagram is determined through an increment between the driver-type nominal value and a driver-type, based on several assigned driver-type or curve driving style shift patterns. In addition, in a differentiating function, it is evaluated whether the increment is equal to a 0 value whereby, based on the results of this evaluation, a counter value is adjusted, the counter values are divided into counter value ranges and, if there is an increasing number of the counter value range, the sportiness is assumed larger.
Known from DE 4201142 C2 is a drive speed limitation device for a vehicle with a vehicle supported navigation device, which continuously determines the position of the motor and which is compared with a roadmap comprising of a device with default settings for location dependent nominal speed values, while the motor vehicle approaches a curve on a road, and it has a drive speed sensor to issue a nominal speed value.
In addition, the known drive speed limitation device comprises a control unit which activates a warning device in case of exceeding the locally dependent and determined nominal speed values through the actual speed value and/or initiates a reduction of the drive speed to the nominal speed value; it is also provided that, when the navigation device recognizes that the location of the motor vehicle is close to this curve, the navigation device provides information about the curve to the steering direction, whereby the information about the curve includes at least the curvature radius and whereby the control device, due to the information which has been delivered by the navigation device, calculates a speed limit at which the motor vehicle can safely drive through this curve, and it determines a nominal speed value.
Hereby, the vehicle is decelerated by the drive speed limiting device, in case the drive speed is greater than the speed limit; the deceleration can also occur through closing of the thrust valve of the vehicle, meaning an intervention at the engine.
As a disadvantage, the present gear is hereby maintained which can cause that the engaged gear, after an initiated drive speed limitation, cannot be used any longer to accelerate the vehicle in accordance with the desire of the driver; in addition, the drive behavior of the driver, with regard to sportiness, is not observed which can impair the drive comfort.
EP 0 831 255 B1 also presents a vehicle control device comprising a device to maintain the road information, a current positioned sensor device to detect a common position on the road, an automatic transmission, a device to calculate a steering parameter in the automatic transmission, based on the reaction with regard to the detected current position and the obtained road information.
In addition, the known vehicle control device comprises of a speed reduction sensor device to detect a speed reduction operation of the driver, and an execution device to execute the calculated steering parameter, if a speed reduction operation of the driver is detected by the speed reduction sensor device, whereby the steering parameter calculation device comprises of a forward projection sensor device for detection of a specific position of the parts like in reaction to the detected, current position and the obtained road information, a distance calculation unit to calculate the distance from a current position to a specific position, a speed reduction conclusion device to conclude the need of a speed reduction, depending on a calculated distance before a current position to a specific position, and a selection device for a selective determination of the steering parameter, when the speed reduction conclusion device concludes the need for a speed reduction.
Hereby, the steering parameter can be a transmission ratio range of the automatic transmission or an upper and/or lower limiting value of transmission ratios of the automatic transmission; the specific position of a curve or road crossing can be the entering.
Within the framework of EP 0 831 255 B1, the drive behavior of the driver is not calculated and, for that reason, not observed with regard to the sportiness, which can limit the drive comfort from the driver's point of view.